Witch hunt begins

The group was prepared for the attack and they gathered with their readied weapons while others held lit torches.

Some had arrows which had been wrapped with a flammable cloth along with a bow in their hands since they were prepared to fight using any means necessary.

The mercenaries did not care for the damage they could cause to the surroundings so long as their mission was complete even if it meant burning the forest down.

Blush held in her disgust as she followed behind with her sword readied for combat to show that she was participating along with them.

The knight waved his sword forward to signal the approval to attack which allowed many could charge forward.

There were some clumsy people which had walked heavily or ran making lots of noise while the more experienced mercenaries took their time with lighter footsteps.

Each of them circled the building which had belonged to the first witch and her disciples then they started to examine the overall layout of the building.

There were few windows so there were not many places to escape from.

Several teams ran over with some nails, hammers and wood to allow them to block off the exits quickly.

A couple of them stood against the door and pressed against it while others held the window closed while the others quickly moved to place the wood on the door and windows.

As if working in sync, they hit the nails into the wood which secured them in place at the same time then they ran to gain some distance.

There were no gaps which a human could fit through unless they were the size of a small child or baby so the witch would be trapped inside until the door or windows had been destroyed.

The witch was only known to possess sleep magic so everyone believed that she would be powerless to escape.

Blush was among the team which had been on lookout so her task was very easy.

The knight waved his sword again to signal the archers so they lit the cloth on the arrows then took aim.

When the knight signalled again, they all fired them towards the windows where there were gaps in the wood.

Some with a poor aim had hit the outer part of the house or the wood that blocked the windows but there were a couple which had managed to aim perfectly and hit their targets.

The arrows hit the window and caused the glass to smash which was followed by the light appearing within which was caused by the flames spreading.

The next thing was the most unexpected for everyone because the flames grew rapidly and suddenly exploded as if they had come into contact with a very volatile material.

Anyone inside would have very little time within to let out any noise or try to escape before the explosion happened.

Their death would happen in an instant once the explosion happened while the rest of the house would be engulfed in flames with a large amount of destruction within where the blast happened.

The knight watched while frowning. "There is no screaming. Are you sure that she was in?"

His aide nodded. "We sent people to spy on her yesterday and she has not left her home. This morning she has not shown any movements within so she must have been busy or sleeping. My guess is that the witch died once that explosion happened."

The knight pondered for a little while then waved towards the mercenaries. "Wait a little then send a team to put out the flames. I want to confirm that she is dead before we go to the next location."

"Yes sir!"

Blush was quickly put on the team to go towards the nearby lake to gather water and bring them over which showed how little the others opinions of her was. 'Well.. this is better. I do not have to stand out too much in this role.'

The teams efforts allowed enough water to be carried over to extinguish the flames when they were dying down and stopped any spreading within the area.

When the flames finally dissipated, the knight came forward and cut down the door which allowed people to enter and investigate inside.

Someone shouted happily. "We found some remains!"

Upon discovering the location, Blush followed behind and looked at the remains while complimenting herself. 'This should be enough.'

Blush and the witch had a long discussion on how to disguise their deaths, the main option was to leave a corpse or bones within which would be discovered.

It was easy to guess the cowardly tactics the group would use so using gunpowder and other volatile materials would be the best way to use the situation to their advantage.

The explosion and flames would disguise the body which would make it unidentifiable by those who came to check.

There was a newly buried corpse in the area that Blush was able to locate which came from a woman which was killed by animals within the forest.

The body was not too decomposed but it was enough to be unidentifiable once it had been burned and had been caught up in a blast.

There were many bone fragments, black ash from the burnt up body parts and skin then there were a couple of in tact bones laying around scattered in different places as if some had been blown apart during the explosion.

The knight confirmed the death then let out a relieved sigh. "Good work everyone. The rewards for this kill will be based off your contributions. Those that hit their targets from the bow and arrow team will gain more along with those that worked on the earlier part to trap her within her home."

Many eyes lit up upon hearing his words while others had a look of resentment in their eyes because they had missed out on a larger portion of the reward.

Some came to a realisation that the task was not yet over and that they still had a chance to redeem themselves so hope returned to their eyes.

One stepped on the flooring while standing around which had been weakened by the fire so his foot fell through. "Argh."

"Hurry and pull him out."

"We should hurry and get out of here. It is no longer safe."

The knight nodded then left quickly with many following behind, after they continued on their journey there was the sound that came behind them as certain parts of the building began to collapse.

Upon visiting the next location after a long journey, everyone discovered the remains of the headless witch that Blush had killed but her body had already been torn to pieces with little remaining.

After Blush left the body behind, the animals which had woken up smelled the body nearby and were attracted towards the scent of blood.

They tore up and ate the remains of her body leaving behind a barely recognisable body behind but it was more than enough for the knight to recognise who had a lot of information on her.

He cut down a medium sized animal which had been hiding in the dark within the house then found the body and let out a laugh. "Hahahaha. This is too easy! Luck really is on my side."

After looking around a little, he found the skull which had been disfigured then placed it in a bag before sealing it within.

The knight was pleased that everything was going smoothly and he did not need to lift a single finger so far.

Although it was very easy and the witches deaths were a little questionable, he was too focussed on how he was going to be rewarded handsomely after the task was completed.

Even if there was someone targeting the witches or they simply had bad luck which lead to their deaths, it did not matter to him so long as the task was completed and he could be rewarded.

Wealth, honour and status was within reach for him since his master would definitely treat him well.

After becoming the city lord, his master had become even more generous to his subordinates but it was to be expected because the amount of secret tasks had increased since he took power.

There were many mouths to silence and enemies to kill for the city lord who had risen up to his position using sinister methods.